Pura Vida

The expectation is that when you plan something months in advance, it will all play out according to your grand scheme. But rarely is that true. On Thursday morning at 4 am (okay, more like 4:12 by the time Mr. Sleepyhead got out of bed), I woke up and prepared for my journey to Finca Quijote. Cup of coffee, large chunk of delicious gingerbread cake, and a traffic-free ride to LaGuardia Airport with my parents. I was the only one at the international flight check-in counter and was instantly ready for TSA. My parents watched as I went through security. And watched. And watched. And-watched-and-watched. Both carryon bags were inspected thoroughly, and run through the machine twice because there were suspicious items (aka a water bottle and quilt). Eh, no big problem. I’d been on four flights already this summer and hadn’t been harassed once: I was due.

In Charlotte, NC where I had a layover between flights, I hustled from one terminal to the next to be there for my flight to San Jose. As I was buying breakfast part two, they announced that all passports needed to be checked before boarding the plane to Costa Rica. I strut on over, thinking that the rest of my day would go smoothly after my TSA experience… but rarely do plans go according to grand schemes. Apparently it’s illegal to stay in Costa Rica for more than 90 days unless you are a resident or have a work visa. Bummer. Mrs. Notsofriendly at the desk told me to visit the courtesy desk. Courtesy, being a far cry from the service I received, shortened my 101 days in Costa Rica to 88 days. Eh, whatever. I’ll still be here for three months and still have my time to live and play in the paradise.

When I arrived in San Jose, I did my best to speak nothing but Spanish despite the fact that most people in the city also speak English. I bought a phone card, asked for a pay phone, went through security/customs, and got a cab to the Turrialba bus station. Bought my bus ticket, which is confusing because $1 US dollar is about 500 Colones and I study bugs, not math. After a two hour ride on roads with “muchas vueltas” (many turns), we arrived at Turrialba in the pouring rain. But wait, that was not the end of the road. I spoke to one taxi driver, who called a vehicle with cuadro por cuadro (four wheel drive). Yup, we were about to traverse some tough terrain, including a some streams turned into rivers with the heavy rain. My taxi driver and I had a great conversation about music, and he played me some US 80’s rock including the theme to Rocky and Joan Jet. We were friends up until the point when he told me he couldn’t cross the river we were now facing and could not drive any further. He knew of Finca Quijote, and said the house was just around the corner. Eh, okay? I mean, what am I going to do? No cell phone, no way across the river in a vehicle, certainly nowhere else to go for the night... Here goes nothing.

I took my bags (backback, sling bag, large rolling suitcase) out of the cab as dusk slipped into night, dug out my new water-proof boots and headlamp, crossed the stream (at this point 6-10 inches of raging water), and went up the road. In the pitch black night, every sound, every whisper of the wind, and every rustle in the leaves gave me heart palpitations. I walked up the “road” a little ways and saw no lights, no sign of people at all. It was clear to me then that I was not going to survive the night. There was no way. As I walked on, worried about snakes, jaguars, ocelots, and whatever other deadly creatures the jungle had in store for me, I contemplated making a tent from one of my ponchos in the hopes of being found the next morning. A bat flew so close to my hand it almost touched me as it captured insects attracted to my flashlight. I saw the beady eyes of moths feeding on fallen fruit, and was almost petrified with fright when a stray horse (yup, apparently that happens) walked past me on the road. With no sign of human inhabitants ahead or behind me, feeling stuck, scared, and wondering what the heck I was thinking, I decided to push on up the hill into the dark night.